Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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83. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will ensure that persons who have been through a separation or divorce and or have been denied a mortgage on medical grounds have adequate access to the Rebuilding Ireland home loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55200/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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As with the previous local authority loan offerings, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is currently available to first-time buyers only. This is set out in the regulations governing the Scheme and ensures effective targeting. 

However, applicants who are separated or divorced may be treated as first-time buyers, in accordance with the regulations, if they meet certain conditions, including: 

- they are separated or divorced under a court order or by a separation agreement;

- the property being purchased is the first property since leaving the family home;

- they have left the family home and retain no interest in it; or

- the other party has remained in the family home.

In meeting the conditions as set out above, in particular that the other party has remained in the family home and that the potential applicant has relinquished any rights they had over that property, no financial gain should have been made by the potential applicant in exchange for relinquishing their rights to the property in this manner. Were the individual to have made a financial gain in releasing their rights to the property, such as being bought out by the other party who remains resident in it, they would be deemed to have been compensated for their interest in the property, and therefore not be eligible as a first-time buyer.

The final decision on loan approval is a matter for the relevant local authority and its credit committee on a case-by-case basis. Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the Regulations establishing the scheme and the credit policy that underpins the scheme, in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches in the best interests of both borrowers and the lending local authorities.

As part of Housing for All, a ‘Fresh start’ principle will apply to applications to State-run affordable housing and loan schemes in future. This means that people who are divorced/separated and no longer have a financial interest in the family home, or who have undergone bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, will be eligible to apply for State loan schemes.

Therefore, the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, the 'Local Authority Home Loan', will apply this 'Fresh start' principle. 

Local authority mortgage protection insurance (MPI) scheme has applied to all house purchase loans approved by local authorities after 1 July 1986, including the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan introduced on 1 February 2018.

One of the conditions of the MPI scheme, which is a group policy, is that it is obligatory for all local authority borrowers who meet the eligibility criteria to join the scheme. Altering this condition would have a negative impact on the scheme and increase the cost for all existing borrowers. A local authority housing loan applicant, who is not eligible for the local authority MPI scheme, must source a suitable comparable individual MPI policy from the market.

I look forward to announcing further details in respect of the Local Authority Home Loan in the coming months. 

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to a situation in which those in receipt of the housing assistance payment who enter residential rehabilitation or detox treatment must inform the local authority they will not be staying there for a period of over three weeks and are often at risk of losing their HAP payment and thus becoming homeless. [55075/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. The HAP scheme is legislated for under Part 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. Consistent with the provisions in section 46 of the 2014 Act, once approved for HAP, the local authority will expect the HAP tenant to stay in the same property for at least two years.  

Under the scheme, HAP tenants are required to sign a rent contribution agreement to pay a weekly rental contribution to the relevant local authority, in line with the local authority’s differential rent scheme. As set out in the rent contribution agreement, this weekly rental contribution must be paid by them so that they remain eligible for the HAP scheme.

The rent contribution agreement states that “The HAP Claimant agrees to notify the local authority if the property will be vacant for a period of more than two weeks”. Local authorities should consider such notifications on a case by case basis, including where there is a need for the HAP tenant to go into hospital or into a treatment facility for addiction issues.

The day-to-day operation of the social housing system is a matter for the relevant local authority, and ultimately, it is the responsibility of the local authority, while taking a compassionate approach, to make a decision in each individual case.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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85. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the milestones for measuring progress which he has set for the Land Development Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55166/21]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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101. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the milestones for measuring progress which he has set for the Land Development Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55051/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 101 together.

The Land Development Agency (LDA) was established on an interim basis in September 2018, by way of an Establishment Order made under the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971. The Land Development Agency Act was recently signed in law and, on commencement, the LDA will be established as a commercial State agency.

The LDA will be subject to various provisions under the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, as well as its statutory provisions under the Land Development Agency Act 2021. Oversight of the LDA, as a commercial state body, will be by way of a Shareholder Letter of Expectation (SLE). The SLE will include the objectives to be met by the LDA, the expected achievements of the Agency and the return expected by the shareholders, which will be the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The LDA will also be required to produce a five year business and financial plan which will outline the LDA's strategy, its planned investments and appropriate financial targets. 

Under Section 9 of the LDA Act, the LDA will also be required to report to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on its progress with regards to the achievement of the purposes of the Act on 31 March 2024, and every five years thereafter, as committed to under the Programme for Government. This will be in addition to the Annual Report on the performance of its functions to be published each year by the Agency under Section 48 of the Act. 

Additionally, under Section 52 of the LDA Act, the LDA shall furnish a report to Government every 2 years detailing how public lands are being utilised and identifying any lands which may be appropriate for the LDAs objectives. The first report to be provided by the LDA to Government is required to be submitted within 12 months of the coming into operation of Section 52 of the Act. 

In relation to housing delivery, the Housing for All strategy allocated €1 billion to the LDA through Project Tosaigh to unlock stalled developments and accelerate the delivery of affordable homes, with a specific target of 5,000 affordable homes to 2026, the majority being cost rental. Consistent with other Housing for All stakeholders and targets, the Cabinet Committee on Housing (chaired by the Taoiseach) and the Delivery Group of Secretary Generals will monitor the progress of the LDA in delivering this target.

Furthermore, the LDA participates on the High Level Affordable Housing Delivery Group, which was established by Department to draw together the key stakeholders responsible for delivering on the affordable housing interventions as detailed in the Housing for All strategy.